Colonel Bingham Lacy
Colonel Bingham Lacy is a character who appears in the Season 7 episode of M*A*S*H titled "Preventative Medicine". The part of Lt. Col. Lacey is played by James Wainwright. About Colonel Lacy In the "Preventative Medicine" episode in Season 7, in OR, the doctors notice that all the wounded have multiple shrapnel wounds, from all directions. Col. Potter explains these soldiers are part of Colonel Lacy's unit, which sustains more casualties than any other in Korea. Later, Col. Lacy, the commander of the battalion blessing the 4077th with the overload of casualties, himself arrives, and seems to be quite the charmer. He's complimentary to Radar, to Col. Potter, to Margaret. Hawkeye and B.J. are indifferent to Lacy's kind words, and his troops are downright hostile to him. He makes a speech about how the bravery of his men have given him the initiative to put in a plan to I-Corps to take on Hill 403, a dangerous mission. Hawkeye and B.J. are disgusted, and in private Col. Potter tries to talk Lacy out of it, to no effect. The next morning, Lacy sits down to breakfast with Margaret in the Mess Tent, and she's up front about how much she likes him. Lacy tells her about the mission to claim Hill 403, and when he casually admits that he expects "around 20%" in casualties, Margaret is horrified. She asks what makes the hill so important, worth all that, and he responds, as if its a strange question, "Well, getting it." Lacy, who seems to be very gung-ho in sending his men into dangerous combat missions which his superiors often advise him not to go into, also seems to show no concern at all for his men, and more about how his unit's success furthers his own career: case in point, when Hawkeye tells him of a soldier in his unit who was severely wounded, a CPL McAvoy, who was making a full recovery, after not remembering his name, he non chalantly responds to the news saying "Oh. that kid... that was good work, good work." When Lacy returns to Post Op to give out Purple Hearts, none of the wounded wanted them. One of them goes into cardiac arrest, while Lacy receives a phone call from a general, who tells him that Lacy's offensive on Hill 403 has been denied, on the grounds of it being too risky. Lacy however resolves to send "reconnaissance" troops out to the hill, aka he means to attack the hill anyway, and claim it was done in self-defence, knowing no one could prove it otherwise. The medical staff, after seeing Lacy's true colors, meaning his objectives in the handling of his men, aren't too impressed with him, to say the least, especially Hawkeye, who, after luring Lacy into the Swamp with B.J. to have a few martinis, slips a "mickey" into his drink, making the Colonel believe that he has appendicitis (B.J. says he has gastritis) after he doubles over; After Hawkeye has Lacey go to O.R. for an unneeded surgery, in hopes to have him sent stateside, thus away from his battalion, Before the operation, the two surgeons, Hawk and B.J., have a bitter argument over performing the illegal operation on an otherwise healthy Lacy, just to have him relieved of his command of his battalion; Hawkeye winds up performing on Colonel anyhow. Category:Notable characters Category:M*A*S*H television series characters Category:Visitors and Patients